Saturday, August 9, 2014

Sweet Baby James Taylor at Verizon Arena

Was it really 1970, on a 3 a.m. drive beneath the oaks arching over St. Charles Avenue, that I first heard that bittersweet song about fire and rain? Anybody else have first-heard song moments? James Taylor's or anyone else? That's one of mine.

Another is "City of New Orleans," sitting outside a convenience store in Duson, La., right by the Southern Pacific railroad tracks. Summer night beer stop en route to Abbeville.

Speaking of James Taylor

Looking around Verizon Arena ten minutes before James Taylor took the stage on Friday night, this writer, 19 himself, noted fans young and old alike — white-haired women in flashing red glasses scooting past a gaggle of teenagers, a wide-eyed boy of about seven clutching his father’s hand in a stairwell, and senior lawyers and businessmen sipping beer in a booth. When asked Taylor’s age, my own 14-year-old sister answered correctly. He’s 66. /more/

The Verizon Arena has announced that James Taylor will be in town the night of August 8. Tickets go on sale a week from today, on March 14, at 10 a.m., and range from $78-$99.50. And as if they saw this coming somehow, the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra has planned a tribute called "Shower the People: The Music of James Taylor," which will be held on May 3 at 8 p.m. and on May 4 at 3 p.m. /more/

“This is a really big room you have here,” James Taylor noted early in his April 29 concert at Verizon Arena. But then he proceeded to perform and relate to the crowd like he was in a tiny coffeehouse. /more/

A tribute to a great school teacher, Susan Turner Purvis, who died yesterday. Far too soon.

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